Could You Downsize To Just 10 Essential Possessions?

Jim Shea

Once the off-spring have sprung, there is need for less room, so you downsize.

A smaller home means you need fewer things, so you tag sale, and donate, and dump run until everything fits.

As they age, some people continue this process, continually shedding items they no longer need or use.

But at what point are you down to the essentials?

I recently read an article in AARP about a man who pared down his life to 50 possessions.

I can't say I was impressed. If I were in the mood to simplify, which I'm not, I'm thinking I could probably get along with 10 basic possessions.

Now, when I make this claim, I am talking about me, personally, and am not including my wife, who I think would readily agree to being nowhere near as simple as I am. (I'm not sure this paragraph came out the way I intended.)

The problem is that essential is in the eye of the retainer, and my wife would probably feel it absolutely necessary to have something like a stove, or a hair dryer.

Here are the 10 essential possessions I would need to survive:

A house on the beach.

A deluxe cable package, which I would bundle with WiFi, and only count as a single possession.

A leather couch, which can be any color as long as it is at least six-feet long and really comfortable. This is important because if you have the right couch you can eliminate a bed.

A refrigerator, because you need some place to keep members of the hops food group as well as leftovers.

A microwave, of course, because with the range of frozen dinner choices one can prepare a gourmet meal in just four minutes.

A car, hopefully one that was paid for, although what are the chances of that ever happening?

A bike, because the alternative is a psychiatrist, and if you are paring your life down to the essentials do you really want one of them to be a psychiatrist?

A wardrobe, because without clothes you can't mow your own lawn, plus you would stick to the leather couch.

A 60-inch, flat-screen, high-def television with surround sound (I can't believe I almost forgot this).